My week

Soup. This week I made my first ever chicken noodle soup and it was very yummy. It's a great time of year for eating warm, hearty soups and stews. I used an entire rotisserie chicken...mmm! Delicious. I got the recipe from AllRecipes and then made my own variations.

Cookies. Tis the season for baking as well. Last night we tried out Tara's eggnog cookie recipe. If you like eggnog, you will like these. The only problem was that I added too much butter. I was looking at the wrong line of the recipe. Woops! So I threw in some extra flour to try and compensate. They still turned out tasty. We also tried out my friend Sarah's recipe for cream cheese shortbread cookies with cream cheese frosting, topped with candy cane bits. We LOVE these cookies and were always very excited to get them every Christmas season in Newport. They are amazing! Katelyn loves to help mommy in the kitchen and I try to let her help where she can. She's so cute. Next week we will make more cookies and deliver them to friends for the Holidays.

Quilting. The highlight of the week was finding this great quilt shop here in Richland. Village Quiltworks is a really cool and nice quilt shop. I was very excited to check it out because before we moved, I was in the quilt shop in Newport and there was some other lady in there saying how she hated the tri cities because there was nothing here and no quilt shops. Maybe she didn't know about this shop. I can't wait until I have money to spend again, so I can start up, or finish some existing projects.

Movies. If you are looking for some great family movies, here are two that we have recently watched and really liked. So many people told me how good August Rush was, but I never got around to seeing it. We rented it the other night and really liked it. Very clean film. Justin even got teary-eyed. Our other find is Nim's Island. I actually bought this one on a whim, and am very glad I did. It's a cute, clean show and Katelyn LOVES it. She wants to watch it several times a day. It's really nice to find movies that I feel totally OK with letting my toddler watch and don't have to worry about questionable content.

Other than that, I am very excited to be nearly half way through December without seeing one single flake of snow. It is getting colder here, but no snow yet. I hope you all are enjoying the Holiday Season.

My Brown Eyed Girl

couldn't you just eat those cheeks up?"cheeese"

After a particularly stressful day, I got Kate into bed and sat down to watch some mindless television. My first stop is usually the Food Network, but I can't stand to listen to Paula Dean's voice, so I began flipping. I ended up stopping on BYU TV, which always ends up being a really good idea, and listened to part of a talk Sheri Dew was giving. Although my stressful situation had been eased earlier this evening, I was still feeling pretty wound up and worried. It wasn't until I began listening to this talk, that I started to feel more calm. She quoted President Hinckley (see quote of the day) and it was exactly what I needed to hear today. I am very thankful to have God in my life and to have a rock solid foundation to stand on because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.





In other news this week, I became an Aunt again on Tuesday. Tabby and Travis (Justin's brother) had their second baby, a boy named Isaac. We can't wait to meet him! Hopefully we can produce another child, preferably before Katelyn is in high school, and join the two-kid club!





Katelyn: I just have to write thoughts down every once in a while, so I will be able to remember things about when she was a little girl. Sometimes I think Katelyn is a very unusual child. She is so mellow. I took her to the craft fair with me tonight-no stroller-and she stayed by my side the entire time. I had my eye on her the whole time, but she never wandered off or ran wild or anything. My Dad always tell me that she is exactly like I was when I was little. Very shy and reserved. I love Katelyn. She follows me everywhere when we are at home and wants to help me with everything that I am doing. She loves to color and read books and play mommy. Sometimes she seems very mature for her age, or maybe it's just because she isn't as wild and crazy as some other toddlers. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Molly, who is a teacher, was explaining to Katelyn that she should cough into her arm, rather than her hand. So today when I was coughing, Katelyn (very motherly-like) reminded me that I needed to cough into my arm. For a while now Katelyn has been calling me "momma". I can't really figure out where she picked that up from, by I think it's cute. It's not mommy anymore, just momma. Katelyn doesn't waste her time using too many words in one sentence. She gets right to the point. "Cold hands. Pockets. Nice and warm." One of her big things is to walk around with her hands in her pockets when we are outside. She is very much into wearing dresses right now, and likes to change her dress, or skirt, multiple times throughout the day. Katelyn also really likes to pray. Often times, we'll ask her to fold her arms for prayer and before we decide who is going to say it, she launches into her own prayer, which usually goes like this: "hey father, Jesus Christ, Amen." Sometimes I will even catch her during the day while she's playing, just randomly saying a prayer. I love it!

Craftgasm

So you are probably wondering what exactly a craftgasm is, right? Here's the story: Recently, one of my sisters was telling me of a new shoe store they are putting in Spokane and she is so excited because she has been to one of these stores previously and had what she called a "shoegasm". I guess you have to be a shoe lover to relate. Well, I was out doing some shopping today looking for a particular allusive item and decided to try the Craft Warehouse. Ok, maybe I don't get out much, but I think I had a "craftgasm". I was expecting it to be really lame and sort of dollar-store-ish (not that I have anything against the dollar store), but it turned out to be really cool and they had some really nice fabric in there and all kinds of cool stuff. I was just buzzing in there and came out with some cool projects that I had not intended on. Just wanna let my family know, they are getting hand crafted gifts this year for Christmas (even Alura). I can't wait to get started! I came home triumphant and treated myself to a "PMS-er's Delight" brownie (recipe follows) and I will sleep a happy woman tonight!

Brownies: The real name is "Fudgy Toffee Bars"

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C Confectioners' sugar
1/4 C baking cocoa
3/4 C cold butter or margarine
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla
2 C (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 C flaked coconut
1/2 C English toffee bits (i.e. heath bar)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cocoa. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press firmly into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat milk, vanilla and 1 Cup of chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with nuts, coconut, toffee bits and remaining chocolate chips; press down firmly. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Giving Thanks

This year's tree. It's only 3 feet tall, but it will do. We didn't think to bring any of our Christmas decorations down from our other house, and I am not sure if we will be making it up there before Christmas, so we decided to get this small tree and some mini ornaments so we could have something at least. We got some LED lights this year and wow are they bright. Almost too much for this little guy.

Just before we moved I was talking with someone about the uncertainty of making a big move, feeling bad for leaving a small area that needs people, but having to follow what you feel is the right thing. This person said to me that "maybe it is the right thing, but maybe it just doesn't matter. Just think of it as an adventure!" At the time it seemed like a cool way to look at it, but as we have spent the last month here in the Tri-Cities, I have had a reassurance and confirmation of the decision we made to move here. I am sure there are things in life that the prior mentality can apply to, but this was a big decision for us and I believe that it did matter, that we did pray hard about it, and we did get an answer from Heavenly Father. I am thankful for the ability to be led by the Spirit of God, and to know that we can trust in His plan for us. We feel very blessed to be here as a family.

My Quirks

I just noticed that I have been tagged. Maybe I would have known earlier if it didn't take all day to get from one blog to another. Anyway, I think I am supposed to list six quirky things about me, so here goes..

1. I hate wearing a bra. I have even been known to go to the grocery store without wearing one, but only if I happen to have a heavy sweatshirt on, so you can't tell. I know, I'll probably have nice saggy boobs when I get older.

2. If I don't get a nap every day, I am not too happy about it.

3. I cannot eat raw onions or garlic. They make me feel sick.

4. Hair: I have to wash it every day and I hate fixing it. I would be fine with a pony tail every day, if I thought it was socially acceptable.

5. I hate quarreling.

6. I hate when I lose control of my emotions.

Sorry, that was really not very interesting, but there you go. Now I am supposed to tag two other people. So, I tag: Sarah P. and Molly

Thanksgiving Day Re-Cap

I have discovered that it takes nothing short of a lifetime and the patience of Job, to download a picture on my blog, now that we have the lovely NetZero. I cannot wait to have fast internet again. Anyway.

This year we stayed home and had my Dad, his wife, Brandi, Eli the dog, and last but not least, Britany come down for Thanksgiving. They all arrived Wednesday evening. Justin made a big pot of yummy chili for dinner and we just visited for a while.

Thanksgiving Day, I cooked while Justin shuttled tours for my Dad and Brandi. He took my Dad to see the new Police Station and then later came back to pick up Brandi to head out to show them our new town. They both seemed to really like the area and were surprised at how much bigger it is than they thought.

Instead of having a traditional T-day turkey, we went with a delicious spiral ham from Costco. My Dad helped in the kitchen with some of the prep work and washing dishes. I made three new recipes this year. One for stuffing, one for green bean casserole, and one for candied sweet potatoes that were sooo good! Justin made a delicious jello salad and for dessert I made a pumpkin pie, that some of us (myself and Brit) were a little less than impressed with. Oh well.

An hour or so after dinner we went over to the full court gym here at the apartment complex and hopefully burned a few thanksgiving calories by shooting hoops and running around. We made it back to the apartment just in time to watch Survivor, but found that it was only a recap of previous shows this season and not a new episode. Nuts! (My Dad shares my same love for Survivor, so it would have been fun to watch with another fan.)




Brandi left Friday and Justin had to work. Britany, Kate and I went out to two stores (that was about all either of us could handle on "black Friday") and took care of one Christmas present, while my Dad went back to the gym to shoot hoops, take a tan and sit in the hot tub. So spoiled :)





Later that night we rented movies and made banana spits and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. It was a good Thanksgiving, but next year I hope that maybe we could be in a house, with a HUGE kitchen to cook in. Hey a girl can dream, can't she?

Milestones

Wow, a lot of things have happened in Katelyn's little life this week. Lets see...where to start? First, she rather unfortunately, attempted to eat her first booger. Mom was NOT happy about this at all. I had been quite proud of the fact that Katelyn generally keeps her fingers out of her nose and had never tried to eat anything from it before. Next, she reached down into her poopy diaper and got a finger full of poo. Even better! I am her mom, and that little episode even had me on the verge of gagging.


We went to our first Doctor's visit here in the tri-cities. Katelyn has been coughing a lot for about a week and a half, so we decided we probably should take her in. Not knowing who to go to, we just picked out an office we saw as we were driving down the road one day-called "Center For Pediatrics". We felt good about the office and the staff was extremely friendly. Katelyn saw Dr. Tatunay, a female doctor who is foreign, about five feet tall, really cute and seems to be really great. She was very thorough and very nice. They said that they like to get a baseline CBC on their patients to check for various things (I know, I sound wishy-washy huh?). Anyway, I wondered how that was going to go over with Katelyn. She's a trooper though. Fortunately for her she got to watch mommy get her arm poked and have blood taken a million times this summer, so when I told her what we were going to do, she understood. She did awesome! She cried when the needle went in, but she recovered so quickly that I don't think it traumatized her too much. (*here is my soap box: do not act scared or worried for your child, it only makes things worse. I saw that too many times working in surgery. Over-reactive parents create scared, dramatic kids, who are terrible patients.) We were very proud of her for being so brave. The hardest part of all was trying to get a urine sample from Katelyn. She's not really peeing on the toilet yet, so I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. They sent us home with a little toilet "hat" and a bottle. Tonight I got her on the potty and filled up a glass with nice warm water and she had fun putting her hands and feet in it while she sang "tinkle, tinkle, little star". It took a while, but she finally told me that she went potty and sure enough, she did! Maybe we're onto something...


I am very excited about next week's Thanksgiving Day festivities. We will be staying in the Tri-Cities this year and are lucky enough to have my Dad, Brandi, and even Britany joining us. Oh yeah, and Eli-the dog. I am excited to cook the T-day meal. I don't think I have done one before. Not all of it anyway. Who knows, I don't even remember what we did last year. I am going to try some new recipes which I am very excited about. One of them being for green bean casserole. I am going to do one that is a little more unconventional this time and I can't wait to try it. I will also experiment with a new Stuffing recipe. I haven't found one that I am in love with yet, so we will see how it goes this year.

This picture really doesn't seem that great, but

this is what I have been waking up to almost

every day that we have been here. Beautiful

sun-shiny days! I love it.

We only have one car right now so I either have to

drive Justin to work, or let him have the car, which

I hate doing because then I am stuck at home for 13

hours with no transportation. Some days I let him.

Yesterday, he drove the car to work because I did not

want to get Katelyn up at 5am to go with us. I decided

that Kate and I would have an "adventure" and take

the city bus over to the Police Station to pick up the

car. If I could only get Justin to ride the bus.

It was sort of fun. I used to have to ride the city bus

home from high school every day, but I have not been

on a bus in years. It's so economical, but I can't imagine

doing a bunch of shopping and trying to tote all your bags

and a toddler onto the bus. That would be tough.

Katelyn was wide eyed the entire time and seemed

to really enjoy the ride. However, we we got off at our

final stop, I asked her "was that fun or what?" and she

replied: "what." I got a kick out of that.

After picking up the car we took foo-foo drinks and scones

over to Molly's and then spent the day with her.

We went to the mall to pick up a couple of things and the

place was just bustling with holiday shoppers. I really

LOVE the Christmas season, but every year I struggle

with the whole idea of buying a bunch of presents. For

the past couple of years I have sort of felt like I was just

buying presents, just to buy presents. Just to have things

under the tree. Some of them may be meaningful and

others not so much. Maybe I would feel better about it

if I started my Christmas shopping earlier. A lot of

times, I am cutting it close to the deadline so I am just

rushing around trying to get "things" to fill up space. This year

I am going to try and be different. Overall though, I feel

like Christmas is too commercialized. I think the present

giving should be simplified and heart felt.

A Blustery Day

Because we are paying a house payment and rent right now, I decided that we could cut back on some things. One of those things is Internet. So I signed up for NetZero, which was quite a steal! 5 bucks for 3 months. Not bad, eh? It's just really annoying when you want to surf the net. How did we ever survive on dial up???

This week has been fun. Sunday night I went to my ward's women's chorus. It looks like they sing in church once a month. It was awesome! I haven't been able to sing in a group for a really long time and it was so great to be able to sing with a group who can really sing and read music and sound good. (did I already write about this?)

Yesterday Kate and I went to the play group at church and met a lot of cute little kids. Katelyn had a great time playing with them and I got a kick out of watching her run up and down the length of the gym. I think she's pretty cute when she runs. Still sort of awkward and unsteady at times. Meanwhile, I had a chance to chat it up with the other moms. Everyone was really friendly and nice. Tonight I am going to a Bunco party with my good friend Molly, so I will have a chance to meet more people. I'm pretty excited.

Yesterday it was so windy that Katelyn got knocked down on her little bum. Until that point she was loving the wind and having a great time.

Hello from the Tri-Cities

We finally arrived in the tri-cities last Saturday after a long 4 and a half months of waiting. I can hardly contain my excitement about us finally being here. I am so happy to be here. Every morning I wake up and look outside I just feel so happy. It was a fairly eventful first week here. Monday Justin had his first day of work and his swearing in ceremony. He and one other officer were sworn in together. It was a great turnout of various police officers, detectives and other staff members. I felt so much excitement for Justin as I listened to the Chief talk. And I felt really proud of Justin for making through the hiring process and getting this great opportunity. The Chief made it very clear that they are very, very picky about who they let through the door, so I also felt incredibly grateful that we made it. I got to pin on Justin's badge and then they gave the two officers' families a tour of the brand new Police Station. It is really, really nice and huge! The rest of the week, Justin did a lot of administrative type stuff-paperwork, reading, riding around with different people, etc.

So we got to have Justin home for dinner every night this week at a regular dinner time, which was really nice. Tomorrow he starts his training and gets to be on day shift for the first three weeks. He's a little nervous, but I know he'll do great.

Katelyn and I had a nice week. We went to story time at one Library, checked out books and a movie at a different Library and got acquainted with our new town. It has been a great week.

Today we had our second Sunday in our new ward. The ward is HUGE! It couldn't be any more opposite of our ward in Newport. Today, we were one of five new families that had moved in. It's easy to get lost in the crowd I suppose, but I would rather be in a big ward. One of the other families lives in the building next to us at our apartment complex and they have two kids. I also found out that another gal named Deanne, who was in my home ward growing up, just happens to be in our ward, and they have two little girls, so that is kind of fun. She is in charge of the ward "play group" so Kate and I are going to check that out this week.

This is a really exciting time for our family. Justin doesn't really show his excitement a lot, but I am so, so happy to be here and we feel like we are where we need to be right now and that is a good feeling.